State v. Franklin

• Decision Date: 12 February 2003
• Docket Number: No. 3D02-957.,3D02-957.
• Citation: 836 So.2d 1112
• Parties: The STATE of Florida, Appellant, v. Corey FRANKLIN, Appellee.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

836 So.2d 1112

The STATE of Florida, Appellant, v. Corey FRANKLIN, Appellee.

No. 3D02-957.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.

February 12, 2003.

Charlie Crist, Attorney General and Michael J. Neimand (Fort Lauderdale), Assistant Attorney General, for appellant.

Bennett H. Brummer, Public Defender and Billie Jan Goldstein and Lisa Walsh, Assistant Public Defenders, for appellee.

Before SCHWARTZ, C.J., and JORGENSON, COPE, LEVY, GERSTEN, GODERICH, GREEN, FLETCHER, SHEVIN and RAMIREZ, JJ.

ON HEARING EN BANC

SCHWARTZ, Chief Judge.

Following Taylor v. State, 818 So.2d 544 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002), review dismissed, 821 So.2d 302 (Fla.2002), the trial court granted the defendant's motion to correct an allegedly illegal sentence by eliminating his designation and consequent sentence as a habitual felony offender, upon the holding that the statute which provided for that result, Chapter 99-188, Laws of Florida, the "Three-Strike Violent Felony Offender Act," was unconstitutional as violative of the single subject requirement of the Florida Constitution. See Art. III, § 6, Fla. Const. While the trial court was bound by Taylor, we are not. After en banc consideration, we hold, directly contrary to Taylor, that the statute is not invalid and therefore reverse the order below.

The issue of whether a multi-section statute violates the "single subject" rule is one of those perplexing legal controversies in which general rules and decisions embracing them may be found, indeed multiplied, on each side of the particular controversy, compare State v. Johnson, 616 So.2d 1 (Fla.1993); State v. Thompson, 750 So.2d 643 (Fla.1999), and cases cited therein; Grant v. State, 770 So.2d 655 (Fla.2000), and the result, and the group of cases to be cited in support of it, lies ultimately in the eye of the judicial beholder. See Poole v. Veterans Auto Sales & Leasing Co., 668 So.2d 189 (Fla.1996), citing Montgomery Ward & Co. v. Pope, 532 So.2d 722, 722-24 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988)(Schwartz, C.J., dissenting). Since this is true, and since the Supreme Court will necessarily itself resolve the conflict with Taylor anyway, it is necessary only rather summarily to announce that we believe that each provision of the statute is sufficiently related to the others and to the general purpose of the act as a whole, and that the constitution is therefore satisfied.

As its name implies,¹ the statute was designed to protect the public from repeat and serious violent felony offenders. With respect to the two of the thirteen sections² of the statute questioned by Taylor, section 11, which imposes a duty to transmit the judgment of convicted aliens to federal authorities, is, we think, reasonably related to that purpose because it insures the removal of these felons from the country after their state sentences have been served. Similarly, although less obviously, section 13, which amends the definition of "conveyance" in the burglary statute to include a "railroad vehicle" as well as a "railroad car," effects the expansion of the definition of the crime of armed burglary, one of the offenses included in the Habitual Felony Offender Act.³ In any event, the statute as a whole is quite plainly not "a `cloak' for dissimilar legislation having no necessary or appropriate connection with the subject matter," State v. Lee, 356 So.2d 276, 282 (Fla.1978), and thus does not violate Article III, Section 6, of the Florida Constitution.⁴⁵

Accordingly, the order below is reversed. On remand, the designation of the defendant as a habitual felony offender shall be restored and his sentence adjusted accordingly.

Reversed, conflict certified.

LEVY, GODERICH, FLETCHER, SHEVIN, and RAMIREZ, JJ., concur.

GREEN, J. (dissenting).

For the reasons stated in Taylor v. State, 818 So.2d 544 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002), review dismissed, 821 So.2d 302 (Fla.2002), it is my belief that Chapter 99-188, Laws of Florida, is violative of the single subject requirement of the Florida Constitution. See Art. III, § 6, Fla. Const. Therefore, I respectfully dissent.

JORGENSON and GERSTEN, JJ., concur.

COPE, J. (dissenting).

Under any proper analysis, there is a single subject violation in this case.

I.

I write separately to propose that there is a simple method of analysis which should be followed in single subject cases. The key to this analysis is found in the constitutional provision itself, which states, "Every law shall embrace but one subject and matter properly connected therewith, and the subject shall be briefly expressed in the title." Fla. Const. Art. III, § 6 (1968) (emphasis added).

The key to single subject analysis is that the Legislature must state the single subject in the title. It is the Legislature's responsibility to say what the single subject is. Where a single subject challenge is raised, the judiciary's sole role is to find the legislatively-stated single subject and determine whether it covers the contents of the legislative Act.

Under the relevant constitutional provisions the judiciary is not allowed to rewrite the legislatively-stated single subject. If the judiciary does this, it violates Article III, Section 6, as well as the doctrine of separation of powers. Id. Art. II, § 3.

Once these principles are understood, single subject analysis becomes straightforward. But it is plain from recent single subject decisions that there is widespread confusion about what an Act's title is, and where to find the legislative statement of the single subject. The main point of this separate opinion is to suggest a pathway for single subject analysis.

The method of analysis I outline here can, I believe, readily be applied to almost all single subject cases. Regrettably, it cannot be applied in the case now before us on account of the Florida Supreme Court's recent decision in Tormey v. Moore, 824 So.2d 137 (Fla.2002). In that case, the court created a special rule where the Act includes a citation name—a "may be cited as" name. Id. at 140. It is my hope that the analysis presented here will persuade the court to recede from that part of Tormey which discusses what a title and single subject are. Tormey does make a positive contribution in allowing the remedy of severance in single subject cases, and that part of Tormey should be preserved intact.

II.

Before addressing the details of single subject analysis, a word should be said about the purpose of the single subject rule.

The main purpose of the single subject rule is notice. In order to assure that legislators, the public, and press understand what is contained in any item of proposed legislation, the single subject rule requires that a fair statement of the single subject appear in the title.

In the 2002 regular legislative session, over two thousand bills were introduced in each house of the Legislature. Fla. H.R. Jour. 3283 (Reg.Sess.2002); Fla. S. Jour. 2209 (Reg.Sess.2002). It is impossible for anyone involved in the process—legislators, public, or press—to read the text of each bill in order to discover what it deals with.

As has been stated:

The single subject rule has a two-fold purpose. First, it attempts to avoid surprise or fraud by ensuring that both the public and the legislators involved receive fair and reasonable notice of the contents of a proposed act. Secondly, the limitation prevents hodgepodge, logrolling legislation.

In re Advisory Opinion to the Governor, 509 So.2d 292, 313 (Fla.1987) (citations omitted).

If the single subject set forth in the title is, for example, "taxation," then legislators, the public, and the press should be able to rely on the fact that the bill relates only to taxation—and does not contain a hidden provision relating, say, to environmental regulation.

As long as there is fair notice of the single subject—as stated in the title—everyone has fair opportunity to read the piece of legislation and determine what the proposed enactment will do.

III.

Single subject analysis should be simplicity itself.

The key point is that there must be a statement of the single subject, and this single subject "shall be briefly expressed in the title." Fla. Const. Art. III, § 6 (emphasis added).

Thus:

1. Find the title.

2. Find the single subject which is stated in the title.

3. Determine whether the stated single subject covers the contents of the Act.

A.

Find the Title.

The title is always the language which begins, "An act relating to," and ends, "providing an effective date." The relevant version of the Act is the one which has been published in the Laws of Florida.

There are numerous Florida cases construing the single subject rule. Many of these quote the title, and it is plain from all of those decisions that the title is the language which begins "An Act relating to." See Loxahatchee River Environmental Control Dist. v. School Bd. of Palm Beach County, 515 So.2d 217, 219 (Fla. 1987); Bunnell v. State, 453 So.2d 808, 809 (Fla.1984); State ex rel. Shevin v. Metz Const. Co., Inc., 285 So.2d 598, 599 (Fla. 1973); City of Pensacola v. Shevin, 396 So.2d 179, 180 (Fla.1981); Purk v. Federal Press Co., 387 So.2d 354, 358 (Fla.1980); United Gas Pipe Line Co. v. Bevis, 336 So.2d 560, 565 (Fla.1976); Shepard v. Thames, 251 So.2d 265, 266 (Fla.1971); Town of Monticello v. Finlayson, 156 Fla. 568, 23 So.2d 843, 845-46 (1945); Dade County v. Kerce, 137 Fla. 194, 188 So. 642, 643 (1938); State ex rel. Lichtenstein v. Coleman, 133 Fla. 717, 183 So. 163, 164 (1938); City of Hialeah v. State ex rel. Ben Hur Life Ass'n, 128 Fla. 46, 174 So. 843, 845 (1937); State ex rel. Dowling v. Butts, 111 Fla. 630, 149 So. 746, 748 (1933); City of Lakeland v. Amos, 106 Fla. 873, 143 So. 744, 746 (1932); State v. Sullivan, 99 Fla. 1070, 128 So. 478, 480 (1930); Whitney v. Hillsborough County, 99 Fla. 628, 127 So. 486, 490 (1930); State v. Love, 99 Fla. 333, 126 So. 374, 378 (1930); McSween v. State Live Stock Sanitary Bd., 97 Fla. 750, 122 So. 239, 242 (1929); Jackson Lumber Co....